Advocates call on Alberta to fund fertility treatments ahead of infertility awareness week

Getting infertility treatments here at the Alberta Reproductive Centre in west Edmonton can cost couples thousands of dollars.

One Edmonton woman who struggled with infertility for a decade is hoping to see the provincial government build a support program to help people start a family.

“I don’t think anyone should have to go through that,” said Linda Hoang, who struggled with infertility.

It’s still emotional for Hoang to talk about her journey to start a family. It took her and her husband a decade. Ten long years of countless doctor appointments, failed tests and fertility procedures. Ten years of tears and disappointment.

“Talking about it and seeing or hearing that people are still struggling it’s hard, because it was so hard when we were going through it,” she explained.

Hoang said adding to the stress was the cost.

“There’s so much stress involved, money should not have to be part of it if it. Why are we the only ones that also have to add financial stress on top infertility stress and mental stress?”

According to Infertility Canada, one in six couples experience infertility.

“Everybody that wants a baby should be able to have a baby regardless of how much money you have or where you live in our country,” said Dr. Ariana Daniel, a physician, reproductive endocrinologist & infertility specialist at the Alberta Reproductive Centre.

Funding for in-vitro fertilization is publicly funded in provinces like British Colombia, Ontario, and Quebec, while in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have a tax credit for costs.

Dr. Daniel says IVF treatments could cost up to $25,000 in Alberta.

But a spokesperson for Alberta Health told CityNews, while the “government understands the desire of many albertans to have a family and empathizes with the hardships they may face during this process” treatments like in-vitro fertilization “are not a part of alberta’s publicly funded health care system and are not covered under the alberta health care insurance plan (ahcip).”

Dr. Daniel adds, “When you live in a province that doesn’t cover it, you then as an individual have to decide where you spend your money, and you may choose not to spend your money in Alberta, you may choose to go somewhere else.”

But not everyone can afford the cost. A survey by Fertility Alberta found 74 per cent of nearly 650 Albertans did not proceed with fertility treatments due to cost.

Hoang says costs out of country were comparable to staying in Alberta.

“We chose to go to Barbados to do our first IVF treatments. The IVF cost would’ve been comparable to what would’ve cost to do the treatment here in Edmonton or Alberta, but you get beaches and sand and ocean.”

Hoang now has a two-year-old son after years of failed IVF and unexplained infertility; he was conceived naturally.

Now, she’s speaking out to help others ahead of National Infertility Awareness Week.

“The more support and help and understanding they can get from their friends and family and other albertans or the government is gonna go along way in that journey. You know we did hold onto our hope for almost a decade and at the end of it we did get a miracle baby out of it.”